Satire on the Lazy Peasants

The history of Polish literature is almost a thousand years old.

For the first few centuries, however,
it was often a river of Latin preaching -
like in other parts of medieval Europe.

In the 15th century, a short and secular

verse form appeared, in Polish -
called the Satire on the Lazy Peasants.
An anonymous nobleman good-naturedly complains in it
about the peasants who use obstruction
in carrying out field work within serfdom.

Another distinctive early form is a little subsequent,

a renaissance miniature: To Children Playing with the Hoop.
The author (K. Janicki) gives there
metaphorical features of the passage of time
to a carefree child's play.

... It is amazing
how easy it was for the people to put on hoops of half-slavery,
funny how lightly they can play with them.

MMXVIII